


SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT 
LEAGUE OP MAINE. 




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State of JV\&.lri& 

EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT 



School Improvement League of Maine 




Th« co-operation of parents, teacher* 
and pupils in behalf of the public 
schools insures the educational growth 
of the community. 



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7 1912 




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School Improvement League of Maine. 



RECORD. 

The School Improvement League of Maine was 
organized in 1898. Its main purpose has been to 
bring together teachers, parents and pupils in a move- 
ment to improve the physical conditions of the 
schools. Probably no similar instrumentality in 
any state has directly and indirectly been more fruit- 
ful of good results. The hundreds of schools that 
have been made better by it are witnesses of its 
efficiency. For the future as in the past the field of 
activity in which the League will find its greatest 
usefulness will be that of the rural school. 

OBJECTS. 

The objects of the School Improvement League are 
as follows : 

1. To make the local school the centre of local 
community interest. 

2. To improve physical conditions. 

3. To help to provide school libraries, pictures 
and supplementary equipment. 

The Local School a Centre. 

The extension of the uses of school buildings now 
going on in the cities and larger towns is an applica- 
tion of the idea formerly accepted in every country 
community which made its school the centre of social, 



political and, sometimes, even of religious activity. 
The school once the common meeting place of the 
community was the scene of the political rally,, the 
public debate, the singing school, the lyceum and in 
many instances of the Sunday service. 

While modern conditions may make unnecessary 
or undesirable the duplication of all these activities 
yet there can be no question of the greater service 
that can be rendered by making the local school the 
centre of the educational activities of the commu- 
nity in which it stands. An association of teacher, 
parents and pupils will find a multitude of ways of 
increasing the uses of the school. Among these are 
literary and reading clubs, socials, debates with neigh- 
boring schools and lecture courses. 

Better Physical Surroundings. 

The interests of the members of the League will 
be best aroused and maintained when specific 
objects are presented to them. Hardly a rural school 
exists that does not afford various suggestions of 
needed physical improvements. Draughty, ill-venti- 
lated schoolrooms, spine-curving benches and 
unsightly school yards are happily coming to be 
things of the past. Towns are showing their readi- 
ness to hasten the era of better facilities ; individuals 
and communities are daily giving evidence of their 
appreciation of improved equipment ; it is the duty 
of our teachers and school children to do their part 
in cultivating these favorable tendencies. 

The League should exercise its efforts not only 
in decorating rooms and in grading and caring for 
grounds, but it is especially its province to assist in 



preserving things already provided, to help in keep- 
ing the room and buildings neat, and to exercise a 
constant watchfulness over the school yard. 

A school garden should be connected with every 
rural school. The League can help to make this a 
success. The soil about the school should be studied 
in order to determine what plants and shrubs will 
best grow there. The Youth's Companion, Boston, 
supplies free to teachers a book, "How to Set Out 
Trees and Shrubbery." Pamphlets on school gardens 
and the selecting and planting of trees will be sent 
on request to the state superintendent of schools. 

If the yard needs grading, a day should be ap- 
pointed to be spent on this work and the men of 
the community should be invited to assist with their 
teams. Arbor Day should be celebrated by clearing 
the yard and planting trees, shrubs and gardens. 
Study "Forest Trees of Maine" sent free on applica- 
tion to the state superintendent. A committee should 
be assigned to care for the yard and outbuildings. 
Keeping the schoolroom perfectly clean means "Bet- 
ter Physical Surroundings." 

There should be a "Vacation Committee" in each 
League. It should be the duty of this committee to 
see that the plants and shrubs do not suffer for want 
of attention during the long summer vacation. This 
committee should include members who live near the 
schoolhouse and should have at least one adult mem- 
ber. 

Making the Schoolroom Attractive. 

An important part of the League's work will be 
to make the schoolroom more attractive. In planning 



improvements of this kind it is best to begin by 
tinting the walls a soft restful shade. The colors 
should be so arranged that the floor will be the dark- 
est part of the room, the wainscoting lighter than 
the floor, the walls lighter than the wainscoting and 
the ceiling the lightest portion of the room. The 
ceiling should be pure white or light cream. The 
walls may be light drab, light gray, light bluish gray 
or light greenish yellow. If the walls are to be 
papered designs should be avoided. Tinted papers 
are the best. 

Picture moulding is not expensive and the results 
of its use are more satisfactory than that of 
unsightly nails and screws. A picture to be hung on 
the wall should be large enough to command atten- 
tion. 

Small copies of pictures are excellent for seat 
study and a supply of them for this purpose is a 
wise League investment. 

In framing pictures the use of ornate and gilt 
frames should be avoided. Plain mouldings are far 
more satisfactory for the schoolroom. In a village 
a picture loan exhibit would add to the decoration 
fund. 

Plaster casts are very attractive ; there is a wide 
choice of subjects and they are inexpensive. Any 
school may own at least one. Send to the state super- 
intendent of schools for lists of casts and pictures 
suitable for school decoration. 

Suggestions for Organizing. 

The teacher should appoint a day for a meeting 
of the friends of the school. This meeting should be 



called at the schoolhouse. Certificates of member- 
ship will be furnished by the state educational depart- 
ment free of cost. 

Arbor Day affords an especially appropriate oppor- 
tunity for forming a new League. 

The teacher should explain the object of the 
League making special application of its purposes 
to the local school. The following or a similar sim- 
ple constitution should be offered for adoption at the 
meeting. 

Constitution. 

Constitution of the School Improve- 
ment League. 

Article i. 

This League shall be a branch of the School Improvement 

League of Maine. It shall be known as the 

League. 

Article; 2. Object. 

The object of this organization shall be to unite the 
pupils, teachers and friends of the school in an effort to 
help and to improve it and to make it of the largest possi- 
ble service to all the people of the community. 

Article 3. Members. 

Membership in this League shall be open to pupils, teach- 
ers and friends of the school who are willing to subscribe 
to the objects named in Article two. 

Article 4. Officers. 

Sec. 1. The officers of this League shall consist of a 
President, a Vice-President, a Secretary, a Treasurer and 
an Executive Committee of three, the chairman of which 
shall be the President. These officers shall be elected by 
ballot at the first meeting of each term. 

Sec. 2. The duties of these officers shall be those usually 



required of such officers. It shall also be the duty of the 
Secretary to return to the Secretary of the County League 
full reports of the doings of this League. If there is no 
County League such report shall be returned to the Secre- 
tary of the State League. 

Article 5. Finance. 

Sec. 1. The income of the League shall be derived from 
such entertainments as may be given by the League and 
from the voluntas contribution of members and friends 
of the school. There shall be no required assessments. 

Sec. 2. An account of the receipts and expenditures 
shall be rendered by the treasurer at the close of each term. 

Article 6. Meetings. 
Sec. 1. The regular meetings of this League shall be 

held 

Sec; 2. Special meetings may be called by the President. 

Article 7. Amendments. 
Alterations or amendments to this constitution may be 
made by a two-thirds vote of the members present at a 
regular meeting, provided that notice of such alteration or 
amendment has been given at a previous regular meeting. 



Naming the League. 

It is suggested that the League adopt the name of 
some person prominent in the history or literature of 
the locality, state or nation and that the school com- 
mittee be requested to give the name likewise to 
the school. 

Meetings. 

On the first or second Friday afternoon of each 
term a half hour should be taken for reorganizing 
the work for the term. Regular meetings may be 
held on alternate Friday afternoons or once each 



month. If careful attention is given to simple rules 
of procedure and a portion of the meeting is devoted 
to a literary program including papers, recitations, 
discussions and debates there would be ample justi- 
fication, in the educational value of such work, for 
taking half to three quarters of an hour each fort- 
night or month from the school session. Social 
meetings should be arranged for Saturdays, holidays 
or evenings. 

The opportunity offered by the League for certain 
literary work should not be overlooked. The 
"lyceum" for so many years connected with our 
schools, was of inestimable importance in developing 
certain qualities that have distinguished the producf 
of New England institutions. The Leagues may 
wisely turn their attention to a work similar to that 
done by this excellent organization. Each meeting 
should devote attention to literary exercises. Papers, 
debates, readings, lectures, musicales, are all legiti- 
mate features to introduce into the League meetings. 
A study of the lives of men famous in local, state 
and national life should be made. Leagues may 
profitably give attention to local historical research. 

Publicity. 

It is of first importance that there be extended full 
information of the League's activities. The local sec- 
retary should send promptly to the county and state 
secretaries reports of important meetings and of im- 
provements made. Frequent notes of public interest 
should be sent to the local papers. Teachers will 
receive much valuable assistance by correspondence 
with other teachers who have organized Leagues, 



8 



County secretaries can furnish the names and ad- 
dresses of these teachers. A term report of progress 
should be filed by the local secretary with the state 
secretary, Mrs. Blanche K. Blake, So. Orrington, 
Maine. Forms for these reports will be provided on 
request. 

Parent-Teacher Associations. 

Parent-teacher associations are organizations of 
parents and teachers made for the purpose of study- 
ing local educational needs and problems and of 
bringing the homes and schools into a more sympa- 
thetic understanding of their joint obligations in the 
education of children. These associations are partic- 
ularly adapted to larger villages and cities. 

An account of the work of a Parent-Teacher Asso- 
ciation with suggestions for conducting its work is 
issued in pamphlet form and will be forwarded on 
request to the state superintendent of schools. 

Boys' and Girls' Agricultural Clubs. 

The object of these clubs is to bring together the 
boys and girls of rural communities for a study of 
agriculture and other concerns of rural life. They 
aim to promote an intelligent interest in farm life 
and surroundings through friendly contests in crop 
growing and similar activities. A special pamphlet 
containing suggestions for undertaking and carrying 
on the work of the clubs will be sent on application 
to the state superintendent. It is suggested that 
wherever a League is organized the work outlined 
for the boys and girls may be conducted through the 
League without the duplication of organizations. 



Education is not alone a thing of books nor of schools. It has to 
do with all human activities. The best educational system is] that which 
combines in a common effort all the forces that make for the all round 
development of man, neglecting not body, mind or soul. 



